Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases Shares of 24,990 Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC has acquired 24,990 shares of Xcel Energy Inc., valued at approximately $1,769,000, making a new investment during the 1st quarter.
• A total of 78.38% of Xcel Energy's stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, with significant position boosts from firms like Natixis Advisors LLC and Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC.
• Xcel Energy's most recent earnings report showed an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.75, exceeding analysts' estimates, while the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share with a yield of 3.1%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 24,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,769,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 53.8% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 279,146 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,761,000 after purchasing an additional 97,651 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 21,227 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 8,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XEL. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Xcel Energy from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $78.00 price objective on Xcel Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Xcel Energy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xcel Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.80.

Xcel Energy Stock Performance

Shares of XEL stock opened at $73.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.07. Xcel Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.69 and a 12-month high of $73.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. Xcel Energy had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Xcel Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Xcel Energy's dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, purchasing, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through wind, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass, and solar energy sources, as well as coal, natural gas, oil, wood, and refuse-derived fuels.

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